A healthy diet plan for a teenager would not be very different from the one recommended for adults except that we have to remember that a teenager is still in the growth phase and there should not be any deficiency of vital nutrients like calcium, fiber, protein etc. It is also a fact that most teenagers are extremely conscious of the way they look and all the time inclined to try some diet or the other. While it is recommended that as a parent we must educate them on the necessity of having a well planned diet to lose weight rather than fall prey to various crash or fad diets and fall sick in the long run. So what are the must-haves in a teen diet so that the person remains healthy, fit as well as slim and trim?

Firstly, every teenager ought to have plenty of fruits, vegetables, water, milk and lean meat in their diets. This is important since their body is still in the growing phase and various vitamins and minerals are needed to keep them healthy. Of course the teenager need not have all of these everyday - only a few times a week is good enough. Milk can be fattening but skimmed milk can give you the goodness of milk without the fat content.

One of the important considerations for a teen diet plan is that it must contain less of red meat and more of fruits and vegetables. This is because, these foods are rich in antioxidants and other minerals essential for a healthy body. Red meat is not only rich in fat content but may also create several bowel problems like constipation, irritable bowel syndrome etc. even when the teenager is indulging is some junk food once in a while, you need to make sure that his or her bowels are clear and the individual has a regular bowel habit.

The other problem is to decide how much of what food should be given to the teenager during these critical and growing phase of life. Firstly, you have to ensure that a teenager needs to eat at least 3 to 6 times a day. Eating frequently would raise the metabolism which helps in the burning of fat. The teenager needs to be put into a regular exercise program as early precautions are necessary to prevent weight gain in the next couple of years. Restrict the calorie intake per meal to about 400 calories but one meal could go up to 700 calories in a day. In case the teenager is active in any kind of sporting activity, and the calorie demand is more then some leniency can be shown. This means that the teenager ought to run about half a mile per day.

The important point to remember when the person is a teenager is that metabolism for younger people is higher and it takes less effort to burn fat and remain slim. If you follow the guidelines given above, you could not only have a healthy diet but would be able to retain your body weight too.